


Retrograde

by Egotisticalfloof



Category: Markiplier (RPF), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Kidnapping, M/M, Minor Character Death, Temporary Amnesia, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-04
Updated: 2017-11-04
Packaged: 2019-01-29 10:19:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12628857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Egotisticalfloof/pseuds/Egotisticalfloof
Summary: Mark is used to scam threats via email, but when Dark ends up kidnapped by someone the threats become very real. Rescuing Dark may not be difficult, but the damage runs deeper than just simple torture.





	Retrograde

**Author's Note:**

> I've been throwing this idea around for a while and after WKM came out I knew the perfect ending for it! 
> 
> I really do love torturing Dark hmm...I've got another one coming out soon as well which is a lot worse than this xD 
> 
> Enjoy!

 

 

Mark was used to spam emails from random addresses claiming to be a hacker that would release all his personal information if he didn’t do X or Y, and most of the time when he ignored the emails, nothing came of it. So, when an email came through to his business address while he was recording, with nothing but ellipsis in the subject line, he was tempted to ignore it, but they were usually a funny read, so Mark paused the recording and turned his attention to the email.

It followed much the same pattern, demanding X amount of money and attention from Mark, with a response within three days or something precious to him was going to disappear. That threat was a new one, but Mark wasn’t entirely fussed by it. Sending it to the spam folder and making a mental note to show Dark later when the ego returned from his trip out, Mark went back to recording and the email slowly slipped his mind.

Three days later another email came through.

Reading it, Mark rolled his eyes at the thinly veiled threat to something “precious” to him, but made a decision he was going to keep Chica even closer when he took her out, and would warn Teamiplier of a potential stalker situation.

When it all coincided with Dark not coming home when he had promised, Mark applauded the email’s timing and thought nothing else. Dark would sometimes disappear for days on end, visiting Anti or Wilford or doing whatever else he did when he wasn’t at home, and Mark didn’t keep tabs on him. As long as the ego didn’t do anything publicly bad while wearing his face – and Dark knew the other boundaries that came with that – he was free to do as he pleased.

The climax of it all was unexpected and sudden.

Alone in the recording studio again, Mark was humming to himself as he scrolled through the list of games he wanted to play, trying to decide which one to pick. Suddenly, a ringing erupted in the otherwise silent room, and Mark may have made a very high pitched screaming sound because of it. Expecting Dark to materialise after the ringing, Mark was perturbed when it was simply the shadowy, smoky tendrils of the ego’s aura, filling the room and stretching out towards Mark in a way that seemed too panicked for the aura’s normally controlled state. It was something that had surprised him, learning that Dark could detach his aura from him at a simple command, but Mark had come to be comforted by the thing, by the way it would curl into his hair and wrap around his neck almost like a living scarf. Nothing about how the aura was acting now seemed right, and Mark was instantly on high alert, his mind bringing him back to the emails instantly.

There was no way someone could have gotten to Dark.

“Where’s Dark?” He asked immediately, turning away from the computer to focus on where the aura had gathered itself in the middle of the room. It couldn’t speak, but Mark understood it regardless since it was a part of Dark and it was expressive, still connected to the ego despite being separate from his body, and he needed an answer about where the ego was. “What’s wrong?

The aura gestured towards the door before suddenly growing very still. Mark approached it, frowning, reaching out to gently stroke his fingers through the tendrils in a comforting manner, but he immediately pulled his hand back when the aura exploded into sharp spikes, deadly and dripping black ichor.

“Fuck!” Mark cursed, his fingers inches from being impaled.

Not a good sign.

“What’s going on! Where is Dark! Talk to me!” Mark demanded, ducking around the spikes of the aura to the core of it. As his fingers brushed the smoke, the aura instantly relaxed, withdrawing the spikes and wrapping lazily around Mark’s entire body. Two thin tendrils reached up towards his head, a simple request to share with Mark a vision of what had happened. It was not the most comfortable thing in the world, and honestly, Mark hated doing it, but the aura had no other way to communicate, and he had a feeling Dark was in trouble.

The first thing he felt was two points of pure agony to his temples, causing him to tense his muscles and stumble away from the aura. The shadows wouldn’t let him get any further away, wrapping completely around him and pressing the same tendrils back to his head. This time the pain was absent, and Mark’s vision clouded with what the aura truly wanted him to see.

Dark, prone on the floor after a dart shot to the neck brought the ego down.

A masked man appearing behind the ego, dart gun in hand, cracking his neck, before bending down to fasten a shock collar to the ego’s neck.

Looking at the situation from Dark’s aura’s point of view, Mark swallowed down the sinking feeling in his gut as Dark reached up to the shadowy tendrils, barely conscious but able to mumble orders to find Mark, to protect him, to warn him of this. It was difficult to hold still, to not reach out, with Dark lying so close to him, but Mark knew it would make no difference.

As Dark’s eyes slipped closed, Mark reared back and waved the aura away, stomach heaving and twisting.

“Is this to do with those emails?” He gasped. “Fuck.”

Someone had kidnapped Dark.

Someone who knew the ego, who knew he had a dangerous aura and had taken preventative measures. Whoever it was had sent Mark warning after warning and Mark had ignored them all because he was used to those sorts of things and they never meant anything.

“Take me to him.” Mark ordered.

The aura wrapped around Mark’s shoulders as he grabbed his phone, pulled on a jacket, grabbed his keys and ran from the house. Chica was out with Tyler, and he had his own set of spare keys to Mark’s house, since Mark had a feeling he wouldn’t be back very soon. As he ran towards his car, the chime of a Skype call coming through his phone made Mark jump. Dark’s aura reached forward to accept the call, spreading around Mark to hide the fact that he was indeed on the move, so Mark answered the call with trembling fingers and he was greeted with a shocking sight.

In a dingy little room, undecorated and damp, sat a bed. On that bed Dark was tied, thick leather straps over his chest and legs, cuffs on his wrists and ankles, blindfolded and with a metal bar between his lips. At full strength Dark would have been able to break those straps easily and escape, but whoever had kidnapped him already knew that and preventative steps had been taken. On Dark’s temples were two small electrodes, stark white against the ego’s already pale skin. By the bed was a small machine, connected to the electrodes by twisted wires, and it didn’t take much for Mark to put the entire scene together.

Electric shock torture.

As he watched, the machine beeped and the electrodes delivered a sharp shock directly to Dark’s temples, sending his muscles into spasm, entire body tensing and teeth clacking on the metal bar as he bit down. Mark very nearly ended the call as it happened, but instead he managed to carefully put the phone onto a bracket attached to his dashboard and start the car. Footsteps echoed through the room as Mark pulled out of the drive and allowed Dark’s aura to steer him in the right direction. Attention barely on the phone, Mark started when the same masked man he had seen kidnapping Dark appeared, head tilted to the side, hand casually resting on Dark’s shoulder.

“Who are you?!” Mark demanded immediately, knuckles white where they gripped the steering wheel.

“ _I’d much rather talk about you_ ,” The man replied, voice muffled by the mask and slightly distorted. Mark assumed he had a voice modifier attached to the mask, but it was difficult to see. “ _For reference, you can just call me K, for Kidnapper_.”

“Creative!” Mark spat, “Now tell me what you want?!”

“ _Don’t take that tone with me_ ,” K warned, tapping his fingers against Dark’s skin. The ego twitched away from him, shoulder shaking and head turning to look at where the voice was coming from. Mark wasn’t sure whether it was better or not to know Dark was conscious while this torture was happening, but at least he had confirmation that the ego was still alive.  
“ _Now…let’s talk about you. Mark Edward Fischbach, Youtube personality and supposed good guy_.” K paused to crack his neck and press a button on the machine to send another, stronger, shock through Dark. Mark could hear the strained cries of pain this time, forced out despite the gag in his mouth, and his stomach rolled.   
“ _Unbeknownst to your fans, you’re in a relationship with your ‘Dark’ half, pun intended_.”

Dark struggled weakly against the bonds at his name and Mark glared at the phone. The aura was still guiding the car, taking him to a rather abandoned area of LA where it would be easy for this man to hide out. Whatever it was doing to block the view of them driving from the man seemed to be working, because he didn’t seem concerned by the fact that Mark was on the move, clearly coming for him, and for Dark.

“ _It was almost too perfect_.” K continued calmly, “ _You ignored my emails and I found out that despite your constant claims, your life wasn’t empty of love. Of course, figuring out how to kidnap him around that aura of his was difficult, but I think I managed it rather well. Enough tranquiliser to bring down a baby elephant, a shock to restart the heart, and then constant electric shocks to frazzle that dangerous brain of his…you really don’t pick the good guys, do you Mark?_ ”

_He has no idea Dark can separate his aura from his body,_ Mark thought suddenly as K looked down at Dark, brushing a stray strand of hair from his face and pressing the electrode against the skin where it was beginning to peel. The aura stopped the car immediately in front of an abandoned warehouse and gestured inside. Grabbing the entire bracket to keep the phone steady in his hands, Mark exited the vehicle and began to walk inside the warehouse, cautiously following the aura as K continued to speak to him

“ _You ignored my email_.” He said.

“I get a lot of spam.” Mark replied coldly, “Of course I did.”

“ _Foolish_.” K grinned, the mask shifting around his mouth, “ _Now look what you’ve done. Dark has been like this for hours, and all this electricity straight to the brain…human or not it won’t be good for him._ ”

“Just tell me what you want?!” Mark hissed, trying to keep his voice as quiet as possible so K wouldn’t hear him moving through the building. It was dark and eerie, and Mark wasn’t entire sure where such a small room would be located, until the aura began to lead him down towards the basement area.

Of course.

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes at the predictability, Mark crept down the stairs, letting K talk.

“ _Money, belongings, recognition, who knows?_ ” The man was laughing, “ _Money definitely. I mean, I’ve seen how much you make from Youtube. But then I thought, would it be interesting for your fans to see this. To see how their hero had lied to them and was actually in love with the ego that he warned them away from, that he said was the worst person, and would only ever manipulate them? I mean, I can’t imagine it would go down very well._ ”

“Why does that matter to you?” Mark asked, “Why does ruining my reputation mean so much to you? Money, I get but that? I don’t even know who you are.”

“ _Oh, it doesn’t mean anything to me_.” K smirked, “ _I’d just like to see it happen is all_.”

Mark didn’t get a chance to respond. Dark’s aura wrapped around him completely and stopped him from walking, and it was then that he realised he wasn’t just hearing K’s voice through the phone but from the next room as well. Mouth dry, Mark peeked around the corner and saw K standing with his back to the door, talking still into the phone, with Dark lay prone next to him except for when his entire body spasmed around the electricity rushing through him. He needed a plan, and he needed one now.

Luckily, Dark’s own aura seemed to have thought of that.

It took form in an instant, a shadow of a person and reached out to Mark.

_Let me in._

A silent request but one Mark read immediately. The aura could do some damage by itself, but with a body to pilot it would be stronger. Still, Mark was apprehensive again. Dark had warned him against the aura, telling him to never let it in if he did ever separate it from himself. If Mark did, he would become Dark, and Dark would be left weak and dying with the proper support from his main powers.

Shaking his head, Mark pointed into the room with his free hand, and made a fist. The aura seemed to understand he wanted it to knock K out, and wasn’t about to let him in, so the shadow person it had become walked into the room, with Mark behind it.

“You miscalculated one thing.” Mark announced as he walked in, taking a small amount of glee from the fact that K froze when he heard his voice echo around the small room, turning slowly to find Mark there with the shadows next to him. “Dark’s aura isn’t something you can just control.”

The shadows swarmed K as soon as Mark spoke and the man screamed, trying to battle them off to no avail. As soon as he was away from the bed Mark rushed forward, kicking the machine to the floor where it smashed, allowing him to rip the electrodes off of Dark’s temples. The ego was trembling, mouth red from where the metal bar had rubbed against the skin as he had strained against the electricity pouring into him, and as soon as Mark pulled it free he drew in a large gasp of air. Mark removed the blindfold next, and found Dark’s eyes rather glassy, as if the ego wasn’t all there. Understandable, considering the fact that he had electrocuted for hours.

K’s shrill scream pierced the room and Mark looked up in time to see Dark’s aura forcing its way inside the man, destroying him from the inside out and Mark yelled for it to stop. He hadn’t wanted K killed, but arrested, charged for kidnapping, torture and threats, but Dark’s aura was unstoppable. The man was dead within seconds of it forcing its way inside, collapsing to the floor in a crumpled heap and leaving the aura free to settle itself around Mark’s shoulders, waiting for him to release Dark’s bonds.

That was mistake.

As soon as Dark was free he was upon Mark, throwing the Youtuber to the ground and climbing over him. Panting hard and hands going around Mark’s throat, Dark growled, no recognition in his eyes.

“D-Dark!” Mark gasped, hands going up to grab Dark’s wrists and pull his hands free. The ego was still weak, and Mark was able to wriggle from his grasp and push Dark off him, scrambling to his feet and taking a few steps back as Dark righted himself and faced him, anger rolling off him in waves.

“Mark.” He spat, “You’d dare come here! In my body! Give. It. Back.”

“W-what are you talking about?!” Mark cried, matching each of Dark’s steps forward with a step back of his own, keeping the distance between them, body tensed and ready to run if he needed to.   
“This…you’re in your own body.”

“Don’t play dumb!” Dark yelled, “You took everything from us! From me! Give me back my body!”

He lunged then, directly for Mark’s neck and Mark jumped aside, heart pounding. With frantic steps he ran from the room, hearing the stamp of Dark’s footsteps behind him as the ego gave chase. Free of the electric shocks and with his aura so close, Dark’s strength was returning fast and Mark needed to get clear of this warehouse and somewhere safe. Whatever was wrong with Dark was bad, and he was in danger. With his phone grasped in one hand, Mark called the last number he had called and waited until Tyler answered.

“ _Mark? Are you running what’s happening?”_

“I’m about to send you a location, come as quickly as possible!” Mark yelled, “Dark’s gone crazy I’ll explain later just please come quick!”

The call ended immediately and Mark took one second to send the location through to Tyler’s phone before taking off again, Dark hot on his heels.

“Mark!” He bellowed, “You can run all you want you won’t get away!”

“I don’t know…what you’re…talking about!” Mark yelled back, turning corner after corner and leading Dark on a while chase through the warehouse as he tried to find the exit. Dark’s aura was flying alongside him but didn’t seem to be in much of a helpful mood as it didn’t try to direct Mark to any way out of the building. Cursing whatever K had done to Dark to make him like this, Mark burst through a doorway only to find it was a dead end, the entire section of floor having collapsed.

Turning to run down a different section, Mark found himself face to face with Dark, the ego glaring at him as he grabbed Mark’s arms.

“Mark.” He whispered, teeth bared, “You thought you’d get away with this, but I came after you. I’ve always been after you.”

“Dark please!” Mark pleaded, pushing back against Dark as the ego tried to force him towards the edge of the broken floor, “Dark!”

His words fell on deaf ears and the triumphant grin on Dark’s face as Mark’s footing slipped and he nearly went over the edge was terrifying. Hands appeared out of nowhere and wrapped around Dark, yanking him backwards away from Mark and allowing him to regain his footing before he fell to his death.

Tyler wrestled with Dark, casting the ego away from Mark and standing between them. Dark snarled, ordering Tyler to get out of the way, but Tyler refused, protecting Mark with his entire body as the ego ran at them again. Mark yelled, words incomprehensible as he begged Dark to stop and Tyler braced himself, but Dark never reached them. A baseball bat appeared and cracked against his head, sending the ego careening to the floor from the blow, knocked out cold. Ethan appeared as Dark fell, eyes wide and hands trembling.

“Are you guys okay?” He asked, voice small and shaking.

Mark nodded, unable to form words as he rushed over to Dark, dropping to his knees and turning the ego over. Tyler approached as well.

“What the hell’s going on?”

“Someone kidnapped him!” Mark explained quickly, “Tortured him using electric shocks! We need to get him to a doctor.”

Neither Tyler nor Ethan seemed entirely convinced that taking Dark with them was a good idea, but they didn’t argue, allowing Mark to pick the ego up bridal style as they walked from the warehouse. Dark’s aura was still free, hanging around Mark’s shoulders, but it gave him little comfort as they laid Dark across the backseat of Mark’s car. Ethan rode with him in the passenger seat and Tyler followed behind. No one spoke for the entire journey back to Mark’s house, or even in the time it took them to carry Dark through the house to the closet door that would lead them through to the hidden extension where the rest of the egos were.

Dr Iplier was happy to see them, but less happy when he examined Dark. The ego had burn marks on his temples from where the electrodes had been sitting, not to mention the blunt force trauma from where Ethan had hit him.

“I had to!” Ethan said defensively, “He was about to kill Mark and Tyler!”

“I’m not judging.” Dr Iplier shrugged as he continued his examination of Dark, “You said when you freed him from his bonds he was crying confusing things and didn’t seem to recognise you?”

Mark nodded, unable to talk.

“I think the electricity made have caused retrograde amnesia.” Doc murmured, “It means he doesn’t remember things properly, and a lot of his more recent memories are gone. Probably isn’t a good idea for you to be around Mark, especially when he wakes up, if he doesn’t remember you properly. He needs to rest, but you inspire anger in him.”

“But-.”

“Mark.” Tyler interupted the protest quickly, “He tried to kill you. He hasn’t done that for a long time, you should probably listen to Dr Iplier and stay away for now while he tries to fix Dark.”

“Is there a fix for this?” Ethan asked curiously. He was still trembling but Dr Iplier had checked him over, said he was suffering from a small amount of shock, given him chocolate “with no traces of nut products” in and said he wasn’t dying.

“Retrograde amnesia is a difficult one. It can spontaneously get better, but there is no real cure of it.” Dr Iplier replied, “However Dark isn’t human, so I cannot say for certain whether he will recover from this. I’m sorry.”

Leaving the room was a little easier after that. Without waiting for anyone else to speak Mark ran, not stopping until he found Chica, kneeling down next to her and burying his face in her fur. She wagged her tail and pawed at his front, sensing his sadness. Eventually, Chica sat still and let Mark rest his head on her, shoulders shaking from sobs.

“Mark.”

Dr Iplier’s voice interupted and Mark looked up to find the Doctor squatting next to him. Chica bumped her nose along his hand and he fussed her with a gentle smile before turning serious eyes to Mark.

“I know this is going to be hard, but while I monitor Dark and his reaction to seeing you, I think you should stay away.” Dr Iplier said quietly, “I will do everything in my power to get his memories back for you, but I can’t-.”

“Promise it?” Mark finished, “I know.”

Clapping a hand to Mark’s shoulder, “I’m sorry this happen. It may sound cruel but, I wish it would have been anyone else other than Dark.”

Nodding, unable to talk for fear he would break down, Mark offered a weak smile and went back to hugging Chica.

That became a normal routine for him over the next few weeks.

Visiting Dr Iplier’s clinic to get an update on Dark to find the ego still didn’t remember him properly, and then finding Chica and burying his face in her fur to comfort himself. Recording and posting videos was difficult, Ethan and Kathryn ended up doing the majority of the edits for him, since Mark barely had the energy, and when he did, it went into sitting by Dark’s side, talking to him when he was sleeping, hoping that telling him stories would jog something in his unconscious.

The one main comfort in that time was Dark’s aura stayed separate from him, following Mark around, wrapping around his shoulders and lying next to him when he tried to sleep. Nightmares came back, and Mark spent more time hugging a pillow and letting the aura stroke his face in a false attempt at being Dark than he did sleeping.

When he got the call from Dr Iplier, all sadness fled and panic set in.

Dark had vanished, and Mark had no idea where the ego had gone. With his memories shot, Mark knew he needed to find him, and it was only after tearing through the entire house to make sure Dark wasn’t hiding anywhere that Mark noticed Dark’s aura was following him around looking nervous.

“Where is he?!” He cried, turning on the shadows.

They formed into the shape of a person, and Mark knew if they had a facial expression they would look affronted, but he didn’t have time for this. He needed to find Dark, now. The aura seemed to understand, and immediately began to draw him back towards the room Dark had been using in the house before their relationship had really become concrete. Mark followed, apprehensive himself about what he was going to find inside, but the room was empty save for the wardrobe.

Inside there was a small entrance to the void.

Mark swallowed.

“He’s in there?” He whispered.

The aura nodded its shadowy head and gestured for Mark to go inside. Taking a deep breath, Mark pulled out his phone and texted Tyler, asking him to come over and watch Chica. There was no way he was taking his dog with him into this void, and he had no idea how long he would be gone, or if he would even come back, but with Dark’s aura guiding him, he at least had a chance. With one last glance back down the corridor to where Chica was sleeping near the top of the stairs, Mark crawled forward into the void.

It was odd being inside it. Pitch black and without walls, floor or ceiling, it felt as if Mark was walking on air, with no idea where he was going. It was only the gentle tug of Dark’s aura on his hands or hair that told him he wasn’t alone, and he was going in the right direction. Every so often a shape would loom out of the darkness, close enough for Mark to distinguish it from the rest of the void but there was never enough light for him to truly tell what the shapes were. Dark’s aura led him perfectly, and Mark only tripped once.

Bending down to feel for what had caused him to trip, his hands wrapped around a cane, smooth and cold and unfamiliar, but as soon as he straightened, he felt Dark’s aura wrap around the cane and he could feel the trepidation of the shadows.

“Are we nearly at the end?” Mark asked.

The void swallowed his voice, but he felt the aura nod right next to his head. Quickening his pace, Mark rushed forward, moving automatically wherever the aura guided him when suddenly, with a flash of light that nearly blinded him, he stumbled out of the void and back into the normal world.

What greeted him was a sight like no other.

A large mansion stretched out in front of him, turreted roof, pale brick, balconies and more, surrounded by sprawling grounds, large iron gates and tall walls. The wooden front door with large panes of glass set into it was partially open, and Mark’s breath was taken away by the sheer amazingness of such a house. It looked incredible from the outside, and what he could glimpse of the inside through the windows made it seem even more incredible. Dark’s aura did not seem as impressed by the place, curling around Mark’s neck in a small shadow almost as if hiding.

“What is this place?” Mark breathed, stepping forward away from the entrance to the void and towards the open front door.

There was something deep in his gut that recognised this house, and something else entirely telling him to stay away from it, to not enter it and leave while he had the chance. Mark ignored the second feeling. If the aura knew Dark was here, Mark had to find him.

Besides, it was only a house.

Inside it looked abandoned. There was a fine layer of dust on all the surfaces and furniture, and remnants of a party that had happened long ago were strewn about. As Mark wandered, he found faded tape marks in the shape of a body and his heart sank, but he pressed on. The house was huge, and it was easy to get lost in, but Mark eventually found himself back near the entrance looking at a pool of old, dried blood and a cracked mirror.

Something was off about the mirror, almost as if someone was staring at him from the other side and Mark felt an overwhelming urge to touch the glass. As his hand started to reach out, Dark’s aura yanked his hair painfully, causing him to yelp and step backwards, fingers missing the glass by inches.

“Don’t touch the glass then?” Mark guessed, and the aura nodded again in confirmation.

Beginning to wander again, Mark passed by a suit of armour, a room strewn with old, yellowing paper with semi-familiar faces on, a dining room and a kitchen where an odd mascot was sitting, broken with peeling paint. Everything about this house seemed off, and even when Mark had wandered the downstairs and the upstairs, he felt he had moved in a strange way, getting between certain areas of the house easier than he should have been able to.

With only the perimeter left to check, movement out of the corner of his eye made him pause.

Dark was outside, pacing back and forth in front of a wrought gazebo. He was talking to himself, shell cracking and body spasming as he argued with someone Mark couldn’t see. Edging his way outside but keeping out of Dark’s field of view, Mark paused to listen to what the ego was saying, hoping for some insight on why Dark would come here.

“He took everything! It’s not fair! It’s all his fault! Colonel and Celine and...my other friends. He needs to give it back! Give it back! This house can…I can…with the power in here…with the old rituals…no, don’t argue with me! I said I can! This is the only way!”

The words made no sense, spilling from Dark’s lips with fervour, as the ego slowly lost more and more of his form. His aura was getting antsy where it lay across Mark’s shoulders, wanting to re-join its normal form and bolster Dark’s emotions, but it stayed with Mark as he walked closer, mouth dry.

“Dark.”

The ego ignored him, gripping his head with his hands and muttering even faster.

“Dark!” Mark repeated, louder this time, only a few steps away from the ego.

Again there was no response, so Mark swallowed down his fear and reached out, touching Dark’s shoulder.

The response was instantaneous.

Dark turned, snarling, eyes focusing on Mark with an ungodly amount of rage in them. “You!” He spat, shoulders hunching as his form cracked around him, red and blue flashes of anger and hurt for Mark to see. “What are you doing here?!”

“I came to find you!” Mark answered quickly, stepping away as Dark advanced on him. “Your aura led me to you! Dark, what is this place? What are you doing here?!”

“Don’t play dumb!” Dark snapped, “You know this place, you own it! Mark…you made a mistake coming here. I’m going to take back what’s mine! Rectify what you did in this blasted house!”

_Run_.

The instinct came from Dark’s aura, and Mark listened to it immediately. Turning his back on Dark, he ran for the house, wrenching open the door and slamming it shut before Dark could get there. All the horror games he had played had taught him that this would give him precious seconds to escape, but Mark had a sinking feeling it would all be for nought. Dark clearly knew this house, knew the passages and the connections and Mark had never been here before. He had no idea where he was going, following the directions of Dark’s aura again until he found himself on the second floor, overlooking where Dark was prowling below, near the broken mirror.

“Mark I won’t let you escape.” The ego shouted, cracking his neck and glancing around. “Not this time. You’re going to fix everything! And give me my body back, I’m tired of this broken one.”

“What is he talking about?” Mark hurriedly whispered to the aura, but he received no response.

Regret was seeping through him. He shouldn’t have followed the aura through the void to this house, he shouldn’t have tried to approach Dark knowing the ego didn’t even remember him properly. The burn marks from the electric shocks were still visible on Dark’s temples, it hadn’t even been that long since Mark had rescued him, and Dr Iplier had said that these types of problems could persist for years.

But Dark wasn’t human. And Mark had hoped he would get better quicker.

Mark was broken from his thoughts by a hand wrapping around his arm and yanking him to his feet. Crying out in shock, he found himself face to face with Dark, pressed up against the slightly broken and buckled bannister.

“You aren’t the first person to fall from here!” Dark whispered coldly, eyes boring into Mark’s and Mark saw no recognition in them for who he truly was, just hatred and a sheen of happiness. “And you probably won’t be the last. But this will be the most entertaining.”

Instinct kicked in and Mark shoved back, forcing Dark away from him and getting away from the edge. Dark growled and tackled him, trying with all his might to force Mark over the edge of the bannister to the fall below, but Mark held onto Dark with all his might. It was sheer willpower and determination not to die at Dark’s hands that gave Mark the strength to fight the ego, that and Dark’s own aura working against him.

“You will die here!” Dark yelled as Mark pushed him hard and he slammed into the opposite wall. With a snarling expression he leapt at Mark again, and Mark jumped out of the way just in time. As Dark turned back to him, his momentum was too much and he didn’t manage to stop before he hit the bannister. Mark saw in that instance what was about to happen but he couldn’t move quickly enough to stop it.

The wood buckled under Dark’s weight, creaking and giving way and Dark went over, falling backwards away from Mark as Mark lunged forward, trying to grab him, but he was too late. Dark disappeared over the edge and slammed into the ground with a horrific noise. Mark stood, frozen, his heart hammering and breath short as the shock settled in. Stumbling forward, he peered over the edge and saw Dark lying in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the drop, body broken and eyes closed, blood leaking from his head.

In an instant Mark was rushing down the stairs on shaky legs, entire body trembling as his heart felt like it was about to beat out of his chest and his vision was swimming. He collapsed down next to Dark, legs too shaky to properly hold his weight, scared to move the ego in case he caused further damage but refusing to sit anywhere then right by his side.

Time passed.

It could have been hours, minutes or days, Mark wasn’t sure.

Finally, after Mark was beginning to give up hope, Dark moved.

It was a slightly movement, a twitch of the hand followed by a tremble running through the entire body, and then, Dark’s eyes opened. For a moment he looked confused as to where he was, but when his eyes settled on Mark, recognition flooded them.

“Mark.” He murmured, trying to reach out for him, “Mark.”

Hoping against hope that this wasn’t because he had banged his head and that he memories were actually returning, Mark leant forward into the embrace, tilting his head so Dark could cup his cheek and nodding.

“Are you okay?” He whispered.

Dark sat up, cracking his neck and the broken bones in his body back into place without a flicker of emotion on his face. There was something beneath it, a hidden memory that Mark wasn’t privy to, but he didn’t want to press when it seemed the ego was finally back to himself.

“I…I remember fighting you…I didn’t…I didn’t know who you were.” He replied, “I’m sorry.”

Shaking his head, Mark moved slowly forward and wrapped his arms around Dark. Dark’s arms tightened around Mark as well and he buried his face into Mark’s chest, breathing deeply as he tried to contain his tears. Mark was not so controlled, crying as he held Dark to him. They stayed like that for a time, until it became painful for them both and Dark reluctantly pulled back.

“You…you remember?” Mark asked softly, “You’ve got it all back?”

“Not all.” Dark corrected him just as softly, “But yes I…I know who you are. And who you aren’t. We need to leave this house.”

Mark had no argument against that, even if his mind was screaming that Dark was injured and he needed to see to that first.

Dark avoided the mirror when they stood, and merely leant heavily against Mark as they made their way out of the front door towards the opening in the void, his aura trailing behind them. The void was still open and waiting for them, but the trip back was shorter this time, Dark transporting them through the void in an instant so they tumbled out of the wardrobe onto the floor.

“Mark!”

Tyler appeared in the doorway, panicked and relieved all at once, but his expression went sour when he saw Dark, the blood on his face and clothes, the broken twist of his body, and the tear tracks down Mark’s face.

“What happened?! Are you okay? Did he hurt you?!”

“It’s a long story.” Mark said, pushing himself to his feet and stepping between Tyler and Dark, “But he has his memories back Tyler, he isn’t trying to attack me anymore.”

“That’s not my concern right now Mark, you’ve been gone for days!” Tyler exclaimed, “I got your message to come and watch Chica and then when I got here you were just gone! No explanation, no note, nothing! I-we all thought…!”

“You thought he’d gone to kill himself.” Dark supplied, voice raspy from crying silently into Mark’s chest, “How foolish.”

“I thought you’d killed him actually.” Tyler replied as calmly as he could, “And he had made provisions for Chica because he knew he had no time left.”

“Not as foolish.”

“Dark!” Mark hit the ego in the stomach before walking towards Tyler and hugging his friend. He would in time tell him what had happened, and that Dark had nearly succeeded in killing him in that strange house, and it was only because of Mark’s resistance and a broken bannister that it hadn’t come to pass, but right now, he needed to get Dark seen by a doctor.

“So, you’re okay?” Tyler queried, pushing Mark back to look over him.

“I’m fine, Dark’s the one that got hurt.” Mark agreed, “I need to fetch Dr Iplier.”

“I’ll get him.” Tyler muttered, “And I’ll tell the others your back. You…you see to Dark.”

“Thank you.” Mark smiled, hugging Tyler again briefly before turning back to Dark. The ego was already heading towards the door of the room and down the corridor towards where Chica was lay. As soon as the puppy heard them coming she was on her feet and racing towards them, tail wagging happily as she jumped around them, especially Mark.

“Hey bub, I missed you too!” Mark laughed, kneeling down and letting Chica curl into him, licking him and panting happily.

When Dark nearly keeled over, Mark jumped up and caught him, whistling for Chica to follow while guiding Dark to their shared room. The bed was freshly made, and Dark made a noise of discomfort when he sank back onto it.

“Your lucky you didn’t break your neck at least!” Mark exclaimed as he gave Dark a quick once over.

The smile Dark gave in response was a wry one, and Mark felt an odd feeling shift inside him again.

“I’m just glad I remember you.” He murmured, reaching out for Mark to join him in the bed.

Apprehensive about hurting him, but more than willing to cuddle after so long of thinking Dark was never going to remember him, Mark carefully climbed into the bed and lay next to him, resting his head against Dark’s shoulder.

That was how Dr Iplier and Tyler found them, sleeping peacefully with their fingers entwined, Chica asleep on her dog bed next to them.

“I hope this never happens again.” Tyler murmured, closing the door to and leading Dr Iplier back towards the ego’s home.

“Don’t worry, I doubt Dark would let someone kidnap him again.” Doc laughed, “After all, he’s going to have to listen to me say ‘I’m sorry, you’re dying’, and he hates that a lot.”

Cracking a smile, Tyler shook his head as Dr Iplier disappeared back through to the “extension” built to house the egos. Whatever was going to come in the future, all that mattered was that things were right now. Dark was back, he remembered who Mark was, and Mark was happy.

And for now, that’s all that mattered.

 

 

 


End file.
